Fiskum, Jarman and Slater have many years of experience in the business of influencing state public policy -- both at the Capitol in Salem and around the state, as well as, on occasion, in Washington, D.C. Our focus will be to apply this experience as a credential in interpreting the possible meaning of events in Salem.

In the spirit of the now-defunct e-newsletter "Insider Online," which many of our readers will remember, we want to provide our interpretation of events in Salem and discuss what we think they may mean for our clients and others interested in the public policy process. The goal will be to go beyond the headlines whenever possible, but not to compete with those headlines.

And, when we provide our interpretation of events, we hope it will prompt a reaction from you. Let us know what you think, for it is when we share perspectives and feed off each other that we develop more precision in our perceptions.